Signed by Governor Mark Gordon

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to concur with senate amendments and pass a bill that requires additional steps be taken by utility companies to shut down coal and natural gas plants.

Highlights:

• Defines "retirement" or "retired" as the closure of or the complete and permanent cessation of operations at an electric generation facility. "Retirement" or "retired" will not include any closure mandated by federal law or any closure resulting from federal environmental requirements to where it is no longer cost-effective for the facility to continue operating (Sec. 1.a.ii).

• Specifies before authorizing or approving the retirement of an electric generation facility as proposed in a rate case, integrated resource plan, or another submission to the commission, the commission needs to consider the effect on available reliable, dispatchable electricity to Wyoming customers and the impact that any shortage of available energy nationwide may have on Wyoming customers (Sec. 1.b).

• Requires there to be a rebuttable presumption against the retirement of an electric generation facility. The commission will not approve the retirement of an electric generation facility unless the presumption created by this subsection is rebutted by evidence deemed sufficient by the commission to establish that (Sec. 1.c):

• Cost savings will result to customers as a result of the retirement of the electric generation facility;

• The retirement will not result in an insufficient amount of reliable and dispatchable capacity to serve Wyoming customers; and

• The retirement will not adversely impact the dispatchability or reliability of electric service to customers of the public utility.

• Requires the rate recovery limitations to apply to a public utility that completes a retirement of an electric generation facility without rebutting the presumption specified in this section (Sec. 1.d).

Full Bill Text